It’s been 7 years since I started the Documenting Chinatown personal photography project and it has grown into a much bigger thing than I had ever anticipated. I made friends, I ventured into new places and tried new things … and got to document it all through the power of photography.
And in the end, I made a book!
A book on Chinatown… IN Chinatown…. is that meta or what?
BUY THE BOOK
The book “I Was Lured Into A TeaShop” was not a book I had planned to make at first. I had only planned to do a 1 year project and then … well, I had no idea to be honest. But the end of 2013 signalled the beginning of my journey to explore and document Chinatown and see the changes as they were happening between 2013-2015.
With a mask on and being socially-distanced, I ventured back into Chinatown just this past weekend and took photographs of the photographs in the book at their respective locations now.
The Jang Association building: 2013 vs 2020
Excuse the fingers… Jack Chow now occupies this building in the corner.
While this herbalist moved his shop, the same jars are still there.
With COVID19 happening, there are still people in Chinatown but not as many as before. This Money Foods Enterprises Ltd sign has been there since I’ve been documenting Chinatown.
This corner used to be a lot with a mural on the building. In it’s place is now a 6 story building.
While Chinatown was already changing from 2013-2015, the dates of which my book encompasses, 2020 has brought about many new changes and challenges to Chinatown businesses and to its residents as well. My hope is that Chinatown will still retain it’s culture and it’s feel and hopefully survive this pandemic.